Air conditioning apparatus



March 26, A1935. v. cANo A AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed March l, 1932 lEoR [/efvf; 0,7 CMO ATTORNEY March 26, 1935. v CANOI 1,995,667

- AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed March l, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lINVENTOR 10 Ven/von Cano f Y BY I ATTO RN E Y-S Patented Mar. 26, 1935PATENT OFFICE AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Vernon Cano, Elizabeth, N. J.,assignor to The Cooling & Air Conditioning CorporatiomNew York, N. Y., acorporation of New York Application March 1, 1932, Serial No. 595,988

8 Claims. (Cl. 9838) Thiainvention relates `to apparatus forconditioning air and relatesmore particularly to an air conditioningsystem having a central lconditioning unit and a plurality of spaceddistribuy tion units. v

To maintain comfort conditions in enclosures where people areaccustomedl to assemble, there are a number of things to be considered.In summer the air ordinarily needs to-be dehumidiiled and cooled; inwinter the air supplied ordinarily has to be heated andmoisture added toit. It is desirable also that no unpleasant drafts be produced by thesupply of the conditioned air to the enclosure and it is furtherdesirable that the distribution unit be provided with controls Anotherobjectof the invention is to provide an eicient distribution unit, theoutput of which may be controlled as desired.

Another object of the invention is to provide, in an air conditioningsystem having a central supply unit and a pluralityof distributionunits, controls for ,compensating` for the varying distance theindividual `units may be from the central supply. j

p According to this invention,- a central air conditioning unit, whichserves to clean and adjust the moisture and heat content of outsideair,v

supplies conditioned air' t'o a plurality of local distributionunitslocated at vadvantageous points throughout a` building. Since, after thesystem has been in operation for a" given period of time, the air withinthe building isoi'dinar'ily nearer the desired conditions to bemaintained than the outside air, a portion ofit is recirculated throughthe conditioning unit to` be mixed with outside air and conditioned, anda portion is mixed with the conditioned 'air prior to its dischargefromthe conditioning `unit.` The .conditioned air is supplied todistribution units, each of which are capable of adjustment to enable.-control ofits output to provide asupply of airhaving character'- localdistribution units withdraw air from the rooms in which they are placedand recirculate this air and mix it with the conditioned air supplied.This insures circulation l of the air throughout the rooms and alsoenables a system to be provided in which a smaller amount of conditionedair can be supplied to the units, since the air within the rooms, aftera period of time, has very nearly the desired characteristics so thatonly a small amount of fresh air need to be supplied to maintaincomfort. Each of the distributionunits is provided with controls forvarying the amount of fresh air supplied and for varying lthetemperature of a heating unit mounted in each distribution unit.

Air from the room in which a distribution unit, according to thisinvention, is mounted is drawn into the unit and mixed with conditionedair by induction; that is to say, the flow of conditioned air throughthe unit induces the iiow of air from the room linto the unit. Theamount of air drawn from the room into the unit depends upon the rate offlow of the conditioned air supplied and this, in turn, depends upon thedistance the distribution unit is from the central supply unit.

According to a feature of this invention, means are provided at eachdistribution unit for adjusting the rate of flow of the conditioned airsupplied to each unit so as to insure that the same amount of -airisrecirculated by each individual. distribution unit. y

The invention will now be described with reference to the drawings ofwhich: 4

Fig. 1 is an end view with the end removed of a local distribution unit,according to this invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the unit of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view of a central air conditioning unit whichmay be used with the distribution units of this invention, and` Fig.v 4is a diagrammatic view of a complete airconditioning system; accordingto this invention, showing a central supply unit and av plurality ofremote distribution units.

1A central air conditioning unit shown by Fig. 3 is of the typedescribed in Patent #1,670,656, issued May 22, 1928, to Walter L.Fleisher, and its operation is explained in detail in that patent.Accordingly, ronly brief mention of its operation will be made here.'Referringnow to Fig. 3, outside air enters through the duct 10, passesinto the mixing chamber 11, Where it may be heated by the steam coils12, then passes into the spray chamber 13 where its moisture content andtemperature are regulated. Recirculated air from the enclosure entersthe duct 14, a portion passes through the duct 15 into the mixingchamber 11, and another portion passes through the duct 16 into a mixingchamber 17. The ratio of the air from the enclosure entering chamber 17to that entering chamber 11 is controlled thermostatically by means ofthe damper 18. The conditioned air is supplied to the various localdistribution units through the main supply duct `19. As fully explainedin the patent, this type of air conditioning unit acts automatically tocontrol the moisture content and temperature of the air supplied to thesystem automatically, regardless of weather changes. In summer the airis dehumidifled and cooled; in winter the air is heated and humidied.

Figure 4 illustrates diagrammatically a complete system utilizing thecentral air conditioning unit of Fig. 3, supplying conditioned airthrough the duct 19 to a plurality of local distribution units 20. Airfrom the building is circulated back to the conditioning unit throughthe recirculation duct 14.

An embodiment of the local distribution units 20 of Fig. 4 will now bedescribed with reference to Figs. 1 and 2. The conditioned air suppliedby the main supply duct 19 is fed into the unit 20 through theindividual supply duct 2l. The air through the supply duct 21 entersinto a chamber 22 and passes between the nozzle lips 23 and 24, whichextend longitudinally of the unit, into the mixing chamber 25. Above thenozzle lips are located the recirculated air vents 26 through which theflow of air from the room is induced by the passage of conditioned airfrom the chamber 22 between the nozzle lips 23 and 24 into the mixingchamber 25. The nozzle lip 23 forms the upper portion of a hinged plate27 and its position relative the nozzle lip 24 is controlled by theadjustment of the thumb screw 28 By adjustment of this thumb screw, theposition of the nozzle lips 23 and 24 may be adjusted nearer each otherto increase the velocity of the air passing from the chamber 22 into thechamber 25, and by separating the nozzle lips a greater distance, thevelocity of the air passing therebetween may be made less. The greaterthe velocity of the air passing between the nozzle lips, the greater theflow of induced air through the vents 26 and vice versa. Accordingly,the thumb screw may be adjusted to control the amount of airrecirculated from the room into each local distribution unit. It ispreferred that once a proper adjustment of this thumb screw 28 has beenmade, it will remain xed, although, of course, this adjustment may bemade to control the supply of conditioned and recirculated air. Thiscontrol is provided primarily for compensating for the varying distancesthe local distribution units 20 are separated from the air conditioningsupply unit. Naturally, the units nearer the central supply unit receiveconditioned air at higher velocity and units further away receive air atlower velocities. By adjusting the nozzle lips 23 and 24 of the mostremotely located distribution units 20, the velocity of the air passingtherebetween is increased to compensate for the distance of separationof the units from the central supply unit.

The local distribution units 20 are also provided with a steam heater29, the supply of steam to which is controlled by means of the valve 30.The heater 29 is located as low as is conveniently possible in the unit20 in order that a high thermal head may be obtained. Below the heatingunit 29 is the chamber 31 into which air from the room passes throughthe grilled inlet 32.

The conditioned air supply duct 21 contains a damper 33, the position ofwhich is adjusted by means of the damper lever 34. When the temperaturewithin the room, where one of the local distribution units is located,is thought to be too high, the steam valve 30 may be closed and theconditioned air damper 33 opened. Then relatively cool, conditioned airpasses from the supply duct 21 into the chamber 22, thence between thenozzle lips 23 and 24 into the mixing chamber 25, recirculated air fromthe room being drawn in through the vents 26. When, on the other hand,the air in the room is thought to be too cool, the damper 33 may beclosed and the steam valve 30 opened. Then the heating unit 29 heats theair in its vicinity, inducing the flow of recirculated air through thegrille 32, the recirculated air being heated by the heater 29.

1n various local distribution units which have been provided in thepast, it has been the practice to locate the heating coils in a singlerecirculation passage. The disadvantages of such practices have beenthat the restricted passage caused by the heating surfaces offers highresistance to the flow of recirculated air so .that adequaterecirculation could not be obtained. It is seen that, according to thisinvention, separate recirculation inlets are provided for the air whichisto be heated or passes in contact with the heater surfaces and for theair which is to be supplied when the heater is out of operation.Accordingly, efllcient recirculation is obtained and adequate control isprovided. By various adjustments of the conditioned air dampers 33 andthe steam valve 30, the heat can be completely shut ofi, only cooled,conditioned air mixed with recirculated air and supplied to the room;the supply of conditioned air can be shut oil? by the closing of thedamper 33, the air within the room heated by the action of the heatingunit 29, or the damper 33 may be partially opened and the steam valve 30partially opened to supply cool, conditioned air to the room, the cooledair being tempered by the action of the heating unit 29.

Whereas one embodiment of the invention has been described for thepurpose of illustration, it should be understood that the invention isnot limited to the exact details described since many departures may bemade by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit ofthe invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A distribution unit for air conditioning systems comprising aconditioned air passage, a heated air passage, a partition separatingsaid passages and forming a common side thereof, the side walls of saidunit forming the other sides of said passages, a member extending intosaid conditioned air passage and forming one lipyfof a nozzle andextending the length of said unit, another member hinged to the top ofsaid partition forming the other lip of the nozzle extending1ongitudinally of said unit, the air from said conditioned air passagebeing discharged through the restricted passage between said nozzlelips, a recirculated air passage above and in close proximity to saidnozzle lips, whereby the passage of conditioned air therethrough inducesthe now of recirculated air, and a heating unit in the base of saidheated air passage.

2. A distribution unit for air conditioning systems comprising aconditioned air wh:-

passages and forming a common side thereof,

the side walls of said unit forming the other sides of said passages, amember extending into said conditioned air passage and forming one lipof a nozzle and extending thel length of said unit,

another member hinged to the top of said partition forming the other lipof the nozzles extending longitudinally of said unit, the air from saidconditioned air passage being discharged through the restricted passagebetween said nozzle lips, a recirculated air passage above and in closeproximity to said nozzle lips. whereby the passage of conditioned airtherethrough induces the flow of recirculated air, a heating unit in thebase of said heated air passage, and another recirculated air passage inthe base of said distribution unit and connected with said heated airpassage through openings in said heating unit.

3. Air conditioning apparatus comprising an uprightenclosure adapted tobe mounted in the room being served with conditioned air, said enclosurehaving a discharge outlet in the upper portion thereof,a conditionedairinlet in the lower portion thereof, a recirculated air inlet, apartition in said enclosureforming with the sides thereof a recirculatedair passage and a conditioned air passage connecting with saidrecirculated air inlet and conditioned air inlet respectively, theconditioned air passage terminating below said outlet and having arestricted discharge lfor increasing the velocity of conditioned airdischarged therefrom, a second recirculated air inlet located adjacentthe discharge of said conditioned air passage, the flow of air throughsaid second recirculated air inlet being induced by the flow ofconditioned air, and angular deflecting members in said secondrecirculated air inlet and arranged adjacent the restricted discharge insaid conditioned air passage and between said restricted dischargeandsaid outlet for deflecting the air drawn therein in an upward directiontowards said outlet and in injector relationship over the upper end ofthe restricted discharge in said conditioned air passage.

4. Air conditioning apparatus comprising an upright enclosure adapted tobe mounted in the room being served with conditioned air, said enclosurehaving a vdischarge outlet in the upper portion thereof, a conditionedair inlet in the lower portion thereof, a recirculated air inlet, apartition in said enclosure forming with the sides thereof arecirculated air passage and a conditioned air passage connecting withsaid recirculated air inlet and conditioned air inlet respectively, theconditioned air passage terminating below said outlet and having arestricted discharge for increasing the velocity of conditioned airdischarge therefrom, a heater in said recirculated air passage, a secondrecirculated air inlet located adjacent the discharge of saidconditioned air passage, the ow of air through said second recirculatedair inlet being induced by the flow of conditioned air, and angulardeflecting members in said second' recirculated air inlet and arrangedadjacent the restricted di'scharge inA said conditioned air passage andbetween said restricted discharge and said outlet fordeflecting the airdrawn therein in an upward direction towards said outlet and in injectorrelationship over the upper end of the restricted discharge in saidconditioned air passage. v

5. Air conditioning apparatus comprising an' upright enclosure adaptedto be mounted in the room being served with conditioned air, saidenclosure having a discharge outlet in the upper portion thereof, aconditioned air inlet in the lower portion thereof, a recirculated airinlet, a partition in said enclosure forming with the sides thereof arecirculated air passageand a conditioned air passage connecting withsaid recirculated air inlet and conditioned air inlet respectively, theconditioned air passage terminating below said outlet and having arestricted discharge for increasing the velocity of conditioned airdischarged therefrom, a second recirculated air inlet located adjacentthe discharge of said conditioned air passage, the fiow of air throughsaid second recirculated air inletbeing induced by the ow of conditionedair, and `angular defleeting members in said second recirculated airinlet for deflecting the ai'rrdrawn therein in an upward direction, thelowermost of which forms a part of the restricteddischarge for said conditioned air passage. y

6. Air conditioning apparatus comprising an upright enclosureadapted tobe mounted in the room being served'with conditionedair, said enclosurehaving a discharge outlet in the upper portion thereof, a conditionedair inlet in the lower portion thereof, a recirculated air in let, apartition in said enclosure forming with the sides thereof arecirculated air passage and a' spectively, the conditioned airpassageterminating below said outlet and having a restricted discharge forincreasing the velocity of conditioned air discharged therefrom, aheater in said recirculated air passage, a second recirculatedair inletlocated adjacent the discharge of said conditioned air passage, the flowof air through said second recirculated air inlet being induced by theflow of conditioned air, and angular deflecting members in said secondrecirculated air inlet for deecting the air drawn therein in an upwarddirection, the lowermost of which forms a part of the restricteddischarge for said conditioned air passage.

7. A local recirculation unit for air vconditioning systems comprising acold air supply passage terminating in'an upwardly directed injectornozzle, a discharge outlet in the upper portion of said unit above saidnozzle, a recirculated air inlet between said nozzle and said outlet,and angular deflecting members associated with saidV nozzle and saidinlet for directing the recirculated air in injector relationship aboveand across the tip of said nozzle.

8. A local recirculation unit for air. conditioning systems comprising acold air supply passage terminating in an injector nozzle, a dischargeoutlet lin the upper portion of said unit above said nozzle, arecirculated air inlet between said nozzle and said outlet, and upwardlydirected angular defiecting members associated with said nozzle and saidinlet for directing the recirculated air in injector relationship aboveand across the tip of .said nozzle and upwardly towards said outlet.

' VERNON CANO.

